1 month ago
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December 24, 2024 | 10:44 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Prabowo Subianto wants regional heads to be once again selected by Regional Legislative Councils. This would weaken democracy and deprive the people of a voice.
President Prabowo Subianto’s proposal to restore the right to elect regional heads to Regional Legislative Councils (DPRD) is not the answer to the rising costs of regional head elections. Instead of ending money politics and the buying and selling of votes, Prabowo’s plan to end direct elections will make the selection process more transactional and elitist and will deprive the people of the right to vote.
Expressed during the anniversary celebrations of the Golkar Party, Prabowo’s proposal was welcomed by the leaders of political parties, who have long wanted such a change. In 2014, the House of Representatives (DPR) passed a law ending direct regional elections. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the then head of the Democrat Party, subsequently issued a government regulation in lieu of law annulling the law. The Democrat Party should adopt a consistent stance and oppose the selection of regional heads by the DPRD.
In a number of cases, candidates for regional head have spent large amounts of money buying votes. But what is less often mentioned is that candidates also pay the parties supporting them so they can stand in elections. A selection process like this leads to high political costs. While money politics in regional elections takes place in the open, a payment of dowries by candidates to the parties supporting them takes place behind closed doors.
Rampant money politics also leads to expensive elections. Politicians see the giving of money as nothing out of the ordinary. Voters make their decisions based on candidates’ financial resources, not their policies or visions for government. This shift has led to the normalization of money politics in the eyes of the people.
Clientelism is inevitable because politicians who stand in elections do not have any grassroots following. They need support from the elites, and this does not come free. The dependence on political dowries causes the flourishing of culture of corruption and other unethical practices within parties.
Political dowries in regional elections will only be eradicated by removing the electoral threshold for nomination. In August this year, the Constitutional Court reduced the threshold from 20 percent to 7.5 percent. Although this provided more opportunities for parties and groups of parties to participate, the threshold still did not end the practice of paying political dowries to parties.
If the threshold was zero percent, anybody could stand in regional elections—either as a party candidate or an independent candidate. The political stage would become more crowded—a criticism often made by supporters of thresholds. However, controlling money politics among voters would be far easier than trying to control it in the political parties, yet alone in the offices of party chairs.
The cost of direct regional elections could be reduced if the candidates proposed by the parties truly had grassroots support. A comparative study has shown that leaders elected directly by the people are far better than regional heads appointed by legislatures. This can be seen in the planning and use of government funds, the determination of priorities and the paying out of social assistance.
Indirect regional elections would reduce the number of people to spectators: they would be unable to correct the decisions made by the elites. Conversely, direct elections revive local democracy and are in line with the principles of regional autonomy. Direct elections provide people with an opportunity to experience political contests and at the same time to express their political preferences.
Many regions that have made significant progress have been led by regional heads who were directly elected. In Surabaya, East Java, Tri Rismaharini, who was mayor from 2010 to 2015, opened up green spaces and improved the cleanliness of the city. During the same period in Banyuwangi, also in East Java, Regent Abdullah Azwar Anas improved the quality of life through a family-based health program.
Prabowo’s desire to return the regional elections to the DPRD has made some people worry that this plan is the first step to ending direct presidential elections through a constitutional amendment. Before things go too far, Prabowo should put an end to this proposal that is at odds with democracy.
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